Tactical errors cost Bermuda in Team Stage
Team Bermuda Sam Stan, Antonio Bailey, Chase Cooper, Makai Joell and Ceci Wollmann have moved into the Team Racing Stage of the IODA World Championships in Langkawi, Malaysia, this week.Bermuda were paired with Greece on their opening round fixture on Sunday which finished in a comfortable win for the Islanders to set up a match-up against much-fancied Singapore.In the end, Singapore proved slightly too strong for Bermuda who put up brave fight and could have pulled off a victory had it not been for a few tactical errors.Next up for Bermuda were Hong Kong. Bermuda made a decent start with boats in first, second, fifth and seventh position around the windward mark including a good overlap with the fourth Hong Kong boat.Unfortunately, on the last upwind Team Bermuda lost a tactical advantage which ultimately signalled the end of their campaign.Thailand were the eventual winners followed by Singapore and Peru. Team Bermuda spent yesterday touring the Island during their first day off.Today, which is the official spare day, will see the team train in the morning after which they will relax ahead of the final three days of fleet racing which resume tomorrow.Joell remains the top Bermudian in 73rd place in the 231 boat fleet.The 14-year-old has impressed the international field with two top ten finishes out of the first three races of the regatta last week. On New Year's Day he posted finishes of 23, 37 and 46.Stan is 86th, Wollmann 168th, Bailey sits in 181st and Cooper 201st.Bermuda have joined 235 other young sailors from 56 countries by competing in the Optimist dinghy's penultimate contest in both individual and team racing.More details and complete results are available on the Bermuda Team Blog at http://bodasailing.blogspot.com/